Edukans in Ethiopia

Education in Ethiopia

Since the introduction of modern education which is back dated to 100 years, Ethiopia has been undergoing several policies and reforms. The active government Education and Training Policy (ETP, 1994) has four major focuses: access, equity, efficiency and quality. The policy has been structured in to five levels of Education Sector Development Plans (EDP I-V). The recent and active Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP V) is planned for 2016-2020 and it has shown a significant change in participation of students where GER at primary school level grown to near to 94% while the quality of education is found to be at risk. Besides, the promising effort towards the coverage of education at different levels, quality is still remains the major challenge and found to be priority agenda.

Edukans programmes

In Ethiopia Edukans and Development Expertise Center (DEC) are strategic partners within the Edukans Group. Edukans and DEC work in three regional states: Afar, Amhara, Oromia and Addis Ababa City Administration with the coordination offices at Addis Ababa and field offices at Ayssaita, Baher Dar, Bedele, Liben districts. Both organisations focus on the implementation of products within the strategic programs: work, gender, emergencies and quality education.

Ambitions 2020 Ethiopia

200 certified STAR schools

among them at least 25 schools support comprehensive sexuality education

Capacitated 15 TVETs with 7 steps to WORK approach to enable them with employment skills

1. Quality Education

STAR-School Model

STAR-School Model in Ethiopia is a proved approach to school improvement program in improving students’ academic achievement especially at primary school level. The project is designed to improve the overall school situation by improving the school environment, the teaching & learning methods, capacitating the school management and mobilizing community participation. The general objective of star-school model is to improve students’ academic achievement in 42 primary schools through school improvement program.

Support Early Child Education (SELE)

Support Early Child Education (SELE) promotes school improvement program through improving learning environment, enhancing teaching & learning methods, capacitating the school management, Facilitators and mobilizing community participation. The overall goal of the project is to contribute for the improvement improved children from birth to 8 years old wellbeing in targeted communities through effective and holistic ECCD supports. The project also designed to contribute for physical, cognitive, social, and emotional and language skills development of children. To make it so, SELE pays attention for children participation, capacitating facilitators/teachers and School management teams to attain the intended outcome with partners at all levels. The project is being implemented in Amhara, Oromia national regional state, 8 districts and Bole Sub City of Addis Ababa City administration. The project benefits children, parents from 40 targeted O-grade level schools.

2. Education in Emergencies

BSRP Afar has been developed by EDUKANS with its strategic national partner, Development Expertise Center, with close technical guidance & support of UNICEF as well as with combined expertise and tools in order to strengthen targeted schools in terms of creating access to conducive school environment that promotes quality education for both refugee and hosting community children through the involvement of relevant educational and administrative stakeholders (i.e. Federal MoE, Afar REB, ARRA, UNHCR, District Education Offices, Teachers, CTEs, PTSA, Hosting & Refugee Communities, etc.), improving teachers capacity in delivering quality teaching, advocating and lobbying for inclusive refugee education into the national education system. The program is granted by UNICEF within the framework of the BSRP program, funded by the Department for International Development (DFID).

For every child a future

Edukans Foundation with its local strategic partner DEC, has been implementing education in emergency program in Afar region for Eritrean refugee and community living around the camp since 2017. The project, for Every Child a Future, (2017-2019) aimed at promoting and developing the right of every child to enjoy access to quality education through an integrated program for refugee and host community schools. Originally, the project has started in one refugee and 4 hosting community schools located in Aysaita district and then expanded to other refugee hosting district of Berhalle encompassing additional 05 hosting community and 01 refugee school. Overall, the project reaches 11 schools (02 refugee) 6,850 students (3,095 girls) and 360 primary school teachers.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Among various development interventions which are being funded by Edukans Foundations in Ethiopia and implemented by DEC, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the newly emerging one since March 2018. Realizing the Ethiopian school curriculum lacks the social and emotional learning aspects of children’s development, Edukans in collaboration with DEC designed & tested SEL for students in grade 5-8 to get ten lessons as co-curricular activities through establishing SEL clubs in 10 schools found in Oromia, Afar and Addis Ababa city Administration. SEL centers on ‘teaching the whole child’, focusing five interrelated competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Interestingly, the pilot produced promising results in terms of boosting children’s self-awareness, emotional management of theirs and others. Currently the project expanded to 11 schools in Afar and benefiting more than thousand children.

3. Gender

Sexual and Reproductive Health – ‘Meharabe’

Sexual and reproductive health education is another project funded by Edukans to DEC which is being undertaken in Afar region both in 8 hosting community and 02 refugee schools in Aysaita and Berhalle. In most part of Ethiopia in general and Afar region in particular talking about sexuality and reproductive issues are taboo and highly discouraged. As result adolescents and young people lack proper knowledge and have serious misconceptions, beliefs and wrong informations about their sexuality and reproductive health aspects of life. All these bring serious challenges and vulnerability to various social, health, economic, emotional and physical complications and their later life especially for girls.

4. Skills and employment

Edukans is currently implementing SINCE project in Bith Amhara and Oromia Regional states. With the lead of Edukans, SINCE Amhara project has been developed by a consortium of Dutch, Italian and Ethiopian actors combing expertise in strengthening TVETs, enhancing training and employment services, decent work knowledge, management/sector development and strengthening Public Private Partnerships. SINCE Oromia is implemented by three organizations: Edukans, Coopi and LIVIA with the focus on training youth on agricultural value chains. Both projects aregranted by the Embassy of Italy in Ethiopia within the framework of SINCE Programme, funded by the European Union Trust Fund for Africa.

SINCE is communicating about its results and progress in quarterly newsletters, the first one can be found here.

The overall objective of Linking and up scaling for Employment Action is to reduce irregular migration by improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable population, including potential migrants, and returnees with specific focus on youth and women.

Enable youth skills development employment in the agricultural value-chains.

Implementation Strategy

Strengthening public-private partnership between companies/SMEs, public institution and TVETs;

Strengthening the capacity of public and NGO TVET to provide quality and market-oriented skill trainings;

Reinforcing management capacity of SMEs in the identifies clusters;

Improving vertical and horizontal market linkage;

Promotion of decent work agenda;

Establishing a model public employment centers.

Beneficiaries of the Action

3000 unemployed youth and women including returnees will be provided with quality TVET education and supported to find decent employment

11 public and 1 NGO TVET will be supported to provide quality and market oriented skill trainings

62 SMEs and private companies in the targeted districts will be supported to create additional employment opportunities

Implementation Area and priority sectors

The Amhara project is implemented in Amhara National Regional State: North Wollo zone (Raya Kobo, Woldya districts), South Wollo zone (Dessie, Kalu and Kombolcha), and Oromia Special Zone (Kemissie). Regarding priority sectors of intervention, the project will focus on the textile/garment, metal and construction sectors based on the findings of the inception phase report developed by UNIDO and ILO. SINCE Oromia is implemented in Oromia Regional State: Arsi, Bale and West Arsi Zone in the districts of Asela/Tiyo, Adaba, Sinana and Shirka,

4.2 Textile Project

Edukans and DEC have been establishing and running a Private TVET at Amhara Regional State, Bair Dar town This project which is targeted to create 120 jobs for unemployed youth in the textile and garment sector in two years. Currently, about 90 youths already graduated and employed at companies. It is also in a process to create model cooperatives by organizing the graduates. In the meantime, the training centre will develop into a production centre and social enterprise where we have a plan to sell both the training service and the textile products.

4.3. Work Based Learning (WBL)

Edukans and DEC has piloted a WBL in hospitality sector in Addis Ababa at 16 hotels with a budget of 70,000 euros. In WBL, we have systematically trained 60 youth on-the-job in kitchen operation with the coach and supervision of “masters” from the hotels. The youth are trained for at least three months and formally evaluated with Certification of Competency (CoC) and certified by government standard.

For specific questions about our work in Ethiopia or in case you want to partner with us, please contact Country Representative Gezahegn Lamessa via gezahegn@edukans.org.